Dawn of Fate
by Dragongrdian
Summary: Chapter 8 added! The battle against Balkoth continues as Kelevandros and Katula team up to defeat the power-hungry dragon overlord, Beryl, in this brand new addition to the Flames of Fury series!
1. Early Morning

The sun rose over the hill, giving everything a bright and shiny start. The birds of the air flew overhead and greeted the morning sun with a jovial song. The sky was cloudless and brought forth a blue ocean of freedom. The  
sun's rays went unfazed as the birds danced through the early hours of  
morn, and gave life to the green hills and wild flowers that stretched  
across the land for miles upon miles. But this morning seemed different  
from the others.  
  
A pair of wandering folk walked through the wonderland, dew spraying at their feet. One was an elf with long black hair running smoothly past his shoulders, eyes a grayish-blue as the running waters of a mountain stream. Another was an amazon woman, hair brown as fresh bark off a maple tree with strands of forest green streaks intertwining with her brown hair. To match  
her maple hair was her glossy green eyes, and rosy lips.  
  
She was clad in dragonskin armor, which was not made for traveling long distances. She slightly lagged behind with the weight of her clothes and her pack. The elf went on ahead, light-footed and wearing light traveling clothes. He had a slight bounce to his walk, and made the amazon work twice  
as hard for every step he took.  
  
The pair had traveled for hours, leaving their camp early morning and traveled North since. After losing their loved one, the elf and Amazon had teamed up in search for the one who had caused their loved one to suffer to  
the end. Now it was their turn.  
  
Kelevandros stopped upon reaching the top of the hill. Looking back, he studied how much they had traveled. Off in the distance, beyond the hills  
was a prairie from which they had arrived. The wretched place where his  
brother Vijayendra was taken from him. A sudden image of the platinum- haired drake flashed across his mind. He put a hand to his temple in pain. A hot tear fell from his eye and slipped down his cheek and onto the ground  
below.  
  
A slight breeze picked up and wrapped its warm grasp around him. His hair ruffled and a voice whispered into his ear. "I shall love you always, my  
brother." Kelevandros looked through his hands and his eyes fell upon Katula. "Take care of her for me." As soon as it had appeared the wind took off and swirled around Katula below, before rushing off into the horizon.  
Kelevandros smiled and whispered into the distance, "I love you too, Vijayendrâ..." He then cleared his throat and waited for the lovely Katula to reach the top of the hill. During his wait, he lied down on the grass and drifted off to sleep, the blue sky filling him with warmth and peace.  
  
Katula used her spear for support while climbing the hill. Some dirt slipped beneath her foot, and would have sent her tumbling down the hill if  
not for Kelevandros's hand. The elf hoisted her up the last part of the hill. His hair was ragged as if he was rudely awakened. It appears he had  
for his supplies were scattered all over the top of the hill. Then, the  
sound came to her ears.  
  
"What is it?" she asked the elf, who in the other hand, held a bow. "Orcs," he replied. "Many orcs." Katula looked behind her and was amazed at what she saw. It was an Orc army. They wore leather armor, and carried weapons of all sizes. Prepping for war no doubt. However, the orcs wore their light armor only when marching from place to place, they were probably trying to  
get away from something.  
  
Then it occurred to her how much racket the dragon scene was a few day s  
ago. Maybe these guys wanted not to be found by Balkoth and accused as  
traitors and executed. But whatever the cause, they were heading in the  
direction of the duo.  
  
Katula quickly scanned the oncoming army. Well over a thousand at least. She suddenly realized that on top of that hill on a clear day like this;  
they must have been easy to spot, even for the nearsighted orcs. "Get down!" She hissed between clenched teeth as she pushed Kelevandros onto the ground. Kelevandros looked at her with a mix of surprise and amusement on  
his face.  
  
"What do you think you are doing, standing there in the open with your bow?! You can't take on an army you know!! Even with your... power." Katula stared icy spears into the elf next to her, daring him to say anything. He did anyway, "So, what do you propose we do?" He almost regretted asking, because instead of a witty comment he had come to expect from Katula, she  
just looked worriedly at the army and chewed her bottom lip. Well, I'll just think of a plan myself, Kelevandros thought. He studied the army and  
was about to explain his plan of attack when Katula burst in.  
  
"I think I have an idea..." Kelevandros looked at her and then replied, "Well, let's hear it." Katula continued to study the line and then went on  
with her plan, "Well, fighting isn't a possibility, neither is running away, they would catch us before we got too far... but, since we can't run away, maybe we can hide." Kelevandros looked at her intently, "What? And  
wait for them to trample us?!"  
  
Katula cocked an eyebrow at Kelevandros in an annoyed way, "No, you see  
that line of trees over there?" Kelevandros looked off to his right to where she was pointing and nodded, "Well, I think they haven't spotted us yet, so if we keep low and run parallel to their line, I think we can duck  
in there and hope our armor matches the color of the trees."  
  
Kelevandros looked at Katula's heavy dragon hide worriedly, "Are you sure you can make it? I'm not saying you can't, but I'm not about to leave you  
behind..." Katula merely shrugged and took off her heavy hide vest and rolled it into her pack, leaving only the forest green light hide shirt. "I think I can keep up, now, you lead, but remember, keep low!" Kelevandros  
took one last look at Katula's determined face and then went off to the  
trees at a sprint.  
  
Kelevandros looked behind him and was surprised to see Katula not far  
behind. He kept running, glancing off to his right from time to time to make sure the orcs hadn't seen them yet. The line of trees got closer until he finally ran through them into the forest, but Katula wasn't with him. He  
stood still as a stone behind the trees and waited, he had waited about  
thirty seconds when he heard a loud THUNK! Into one of the trees behind  
him, followed closely by a very enraged Katula.  
  
Katula glanced at the elf and said simply, "They saw me," and kept running as fast as she could deeper into the forest. Kelevandros looked back the way she had come and heard the guttural noises of orcs close behind. Then  
he, too, started running into the forest. 


	2. Twilight

Kelevandros quickly caught up to Katula, and realized she was going a lot slower than even she should go. He looked over at her and saw with a flash of panic that she was limping dramatically with a thick arrow shaft protruding out of her right side. Katula staggered, and Kelevandros picked her up before she managed to faint. Kelevandros started looking frantically around for a place to hide, and decided that orcs were weak-minded enough to never look up. With a grin he hoisted himself and Katula into the nearest tree he could manage.  
  
Kelevandros sat crouched in the tree, managing barely to hold Katula up and keeping her from groaning and giving away their position. He was right, when the orcs were finally in sight; they actually walked right under where he and Katula were hidden. Kelevandros heaved a sigh of relief as he heard the distant call of the Orc war trumpet and the orcs ran back the way they had come.  
  
The duo descended to the ground, or Kelevandros lifted Katula gingerly from the tree and placed her on the ground. Katula sat up with a moan and managed to say, "They got me, huh?" Kelevandros nodded grimly. Katula sighed and said, "Well, I've had worse than this, did your brother ever tell you about how I once had a slab of concrete stuck through both of my legs?" Kelevandros nodded again, with a little tear in the corner of his eye.  
  
"Well, this has definitely got to go," Katula said pointing to the arrow in her side. "Of course," Kelevandros said, and he reached over a pulled the arrow out cleanly. Katula bit her lip and managed not to yell while he did this. "Now, hold still," Kelevandros said as he placed his hands next to the wound, "This might feel a little funny." Katula nodded, she had been healed before by Vijayendra, but she had been knocked out at the time.  
  
Katula's teeth clenched as a tingling feeling started at her wound, and spread through her whole body. As the feeling stopped, she looked back down at her wound, or rather, the lack of one. "Thank you..." She said as she looked at Kelevandros, who in turn was looking at her very strangely, "What is it?" "Well," Kelevandros began, "Healing takes a lot out of the person being healed, especially a human such as yourself," Katula snorted, but he continued, "whenever a human is healed, he or she is usually asleep for several hours afterwards." Katula looked a little confused, "So... what's your point?" "The point is, the only kinds of people that can go through a healing unfazed are drakes, shadowfolk, and... Elves."  
  
Katula's face paled as what Kelevandros had said finally began to sink in, "You mean I'm part elf? That's impossible! My mother was an amazon sorceress, but she was still a human!" "I know that," Kelevandros said, "But what about your father?" Katula looked at Kelevandros with a mix of anger and pain, "M... my father? I have no father! As far as I am concerned, he's dead to me!!! My mother told me all I needed to know, and I will have nothing to do with him." Kelevandros looked thoughtful for a moment, "Fine, we'll not talk about it any longer, shall we go?" He stood up and held out his hand to Katula, who grabbed it and stood up and quickly began her way across the forest, with Kelevandros following behind.  
  
After the day had drawn to a close, Kelevandros and Katula set up camp in a small clearing in the forest. Katula started a fire, and sat down as Kelevandros sat down across from her and began pulling some dried meat out of his pack. He looked down into his pack, "Well, by the looks of it, we have enough left for another two weeks, we should have Beryl dead and buried by that time, don't you think?" Katula only stared at the fire in front of her and said nothing.  
  
Kelevandros looked across the fire at Katula, and knew that the flames in her eyes weren't just the fire's reflection, but the anger she kept welled up inside her. He sighed, "Katula, Vijayendra-" "Good night!" Katula said quickly as she stood and walked to the edge of the camp to lie down and sleep.  
  
Kelevandros, however, didn't want to sleep a wink. He could sense another elf in the area, a dark one. The elf had been trailing the duo for almost a week now, and Kelevandros hadn't slept in that time. He suppressed a yawn, but no matter how he tried to fight it, his eyes slowly slid shut and he began to sleep peacefully.  
  
"Katula..." Katula awoke with a start. Who was that? She wondered as she glanced at Kelevandros's sleeping form across the now-dark fire. I must have been dreaming, she thought. "Katula..." She sprung up and grabbed her spear, "Show yourself!" She demanded angrily. "Katula..." This time it seemed further away. "Katula..." Katula glanced at Kelevandros again before running into the forest in the direction of the voice.  
  
Katula ran on through the forest following the voice. "Katula..." Just when she thought she was upon it, the voice came from farther away in another direction. This happened many times, with the mysterious voice leading her on all the while. Katula began to wonder why she kept running toward such an obvious trap, when the forest broke into a huge clearing with a giant boulder rising up in the center.  
  
At the peak of the boulder, Katula could make out an elf clad in black armor standing and staring at her patiently. She hefted her spear and shouted, "Whoever you are, stop toying with me and tell me who you are, coward!"  
  
The elf let out a hearty laugh, then disappeared and reappeared standing right in front of Katula. "Ah, Katula. I was hoping for a warmer reception." Katula ignored that remark and studied him more closely. She could now see his dark brown hair, steel blue eyes, and a strange scar above his left eye. She also noticed his gauntlets were clawed, and he had a black sword on his back. "Well, you have not earned it."  
  
" I supposed I haven't," the elf said, "But all that aside Katula-" "How do you know my name?" Katula questioned. "Well, I have been following you for some time now..." He began. Katula glared, "I know, a week, don't think I haven't noticed." He let out another laugh, "No Katula, much longer than that. I have watched you grow from a confused girl into a master assassin, and I must say I was very pleased. Which is why I recommended you to Balkoth." Katula almost smiled, "Thank you... but what connection have you to Balkoth?"  
  
The dark elf smiled, "You can't honestly think you're his only assassin. He has a whole assassin network running day and night to do his dirty work. But, if he ever needs something challenging done, he goes to a higher authority. He personal assassin, me." That said, he began to laugh evilly.  
  
Katula finally realized what he meant by "something challenging" and turned to run back to her camp, but she was stopped by the elf. "Now now, Katula, you can't think of leaving. You have played the fly to my spider and must pay for your foolishness." The dark elf began flexing his gauntlets anxiously.  
  
Katula began to back away, "But... why would Balkoth want me dead?" He grinned, "After your shameful failure with Beow's elimination, is appears you have switched sides. Now, Balkoth sees you as a loose end, and loose ends must be cut." With that, the dark elf lunged, gauntlets drawn. 


	3. A Dark Reminder

Kelevandros awoke in a cold sweat. He wiped his matted black hair off his forehead and looked across the fire, "Katula, no..." He looked up and studied the moon, calculating that he couldn't have been asleep for more than a few hours. He reached for his sword and bow, and began looking for signs of which way she went. Surprisingly, he found the trail quickly. "She must've been running..." He mumbled to himself as he set off running in that direction. The trail winded and twisted to the point where Kelevandros was sure he was running in circles, "Oh, Katula, don't die, just don't die..."  
  
~ ~ * ~ ~  
  
Katula reflected the elf's blow with her spear, and tried to kick him low to trip him over, but he was gone in a flash before she knew what was happening. He's fast, she thought worriedly, as the dark elf lunged again, this time knocking her off balance and tripping her, but she was up and ready before she was a goner. Katula launched her own attack, whirling and stabbing her spear at her foe, only to have her blows batted away like annoying insects.  
  
The elf tried to cut her torso by reaching in with his right gauntlet, and Katula dodged by jumping backwards, only to have her shoulder hit with a blow from the elf's other gauntlet, leaving her right shoulder clawed open and bleeding. Katula cried out a spell unknown to her tongue, and as she whirled her spear to contact the clawed gauntlets, the elf's gauntlet froze solid, he swiped with the other, but that was frozen as well. He stood stunned for a second, but as Katula ran in for the kill he snapped back to his senses and dodged like a shadow.  
  
Katula looked down at her spear during this momentary standstill, and was startled to see her spearpoints fade from sparkling blue to deadly silver once again, Where did that come from? she thought to herself. "Well, Katula," The dark elf began, "I never thought I was going to ever combat that spell again," He then tossed aside his frozen weaponry and pulled his dark sword from his back. "I'm sorry... but a job is a job after all..."  
  
Katula ricocheted a blow from that sword off her spear, and she could feel it's raw power surging up the staff. She quickly blocked another blow, Wait a minute, she thought, I know that sword... she had to keep defending herself in a desperate attempt to remain clean of that tainted sword's touch. "You'll not have my soul, Kithal!" He laughed while still attacking, "Oh, so you know me now, do you? I was hoping to keep that a secret until your soul was mine."  
  
~ ~ * ~ ~  
  
Kelevandros ran as fast as his elven legs would let him, "I'm close," He said as he heard the echoing sound of the clash of steel on steel. He stopped abruptly as the bushes before him nearly broke into a clearing. In the clearing he could see Katula barely managing to hold off a dark elf with a wicked black sword, "Soul Stealer..." He whispered silently. She must know whom she is fighting, he thought, or else she would have he soul taken away already.  
  
He looked at Katula as she fell to the ground, his face paled until he realized she had just been blasted back by a dark energy spell. He quickly panicked as the dark elf began walking towards her, sword drawn, and she wasn't standing. "Katula, NO!!!" Kelevandros yelled as he reached for his bow and shot an arrow straight at the elf's head. He then ran out as the elf blocked the shaft and stood in front of Katula protectively with his sword drawn, "You'll not take her! I won't allow it!!!"  
  
It seemed like an eternity passed as the two elves, life and death, stared each other down, waiting for the other to even twitch. Finally, Kithal broke the silence, "Fine Kelevandros you win, I won't take her now, but she can have this as a reminder," With that, he held out his hand toward Katula, and before Kelevandros knew what was happening, Katula cried out in pain and Kithal disappeared.  
  
"Katula!" Kelevandros cried out as he ran over to her, "What did he do to you?!" Katula looked up at him through clear emerald eyes, "I don't really know, my shoulder felt like it was burning up, then it stopped bleeding and didn't hurt anymore." Kelevandros looked at her right shoulder, and, where the torn gash used to be, was a claw-shaped gray scar. "A reminder..." He whispered. "What?" Katula said as she looked at her shoulder, "Can you heal that?" Kelevandros shook his head, "I cannot heal what already has been healed." Katula looked confused, and Kelevandros explained, "This wasn't a normal healing, people of the death faith can't perform those, this was what they called a shadow healing. It heals the wound, causes incredible pain as it does, and leaves a shadow scar, like the one right here." Katula looked down at her shoulder and nodded, "Fine, then it will be as he said, a reminder." 


	4. Dragon's Basket

Katula blocked a low blow from Kelevandros's quick sword; I must train... she thought. If I am to ever beat Kithal, I must train. Katula, much to Kelevandros's dismay, has insisted on training at least a good hour every day, and it had been a week since her run-in with Kithal. Katula wiped her damp hair out of her forehead, almost ready to stop, but when she looked back down at the scar on her shoulder, she gritted her teeth and began fighting harder than before.  
  
"Maybe we should stop now," Kelevandros said as he nearly had his head impaled by a quick jab from Katula. "Fine," She said as she sat down and began to sharpen her spear. "You know you never have to sharpen that, right?" Kelevandros asked. Katula glared at him and continued to sharpen her blade methodically. "It helps me concentrate." Kelevandros shrugged and began to ready himself for the day ahead, they were close to Beryl's lair now, he could feel it.  
  
"If memory serves me right, there should be a small town a few hours in the direction we've been going, would you like to stop there for the night? A hot meal and clean linens sounds good to me." Kelevandros extended his hand to Katula, "Shall we head out?" Katula tried to glare at Kelevandros, but sighed and let him help her up.  
  
A few hours later, after the sun had already begun to set, they happened upon a small town with an inn in the center. "Now, we'll have to hide our weapons," Katula said. Kelevandros nodded and pulled his black cloak over his sword and quiver, while Katula fished her cloak out of her pack and did the same. They walked through the town, surveying the cozy cottages and petite gardens. "How can such a place survive this close to Beryl's lair?" Katula asked. Kelevandros replied, "Ignorance lets them have peace. They have no idea a great dragon overload lives near here, and for some reason Beryl's never bothered this town." Katula nodded as they approached the tiny inn.  
  
The inn was named the Dragon's Basket, which Katula deemed appropriate, and she squinted as the bright light of the common room pierced her eyes. She was expecting a hoard of rowdy less-than-sober men like she had seen at other inns, but this inn was strangely... quiet. She noticed a few half- hearted looking men sitting at several tables, but not much more than that, and she only saw about four serving maids, when there should have been at least a dozen.  
  
As Katula surveyed the inn, the innkeeper walked up to Kelevandros and said, "Good evenin' to ya sir, can I get a nice room for you and your lady?" The innkeeper was an older man, portly and balding. He wore a white apron that struggled to stay tied about his girth. Kelevandros was about to stammer out that Katula wasn't his lady, when Katula said, "Yes, a room would be splendid, and I assume you're still serving food at this hour?" "Of course, M'Lady," The innkeeper said, "But first, let me show you to your room, the name's Borik, just tell me if you need anything at all." Katula smiled graciously at the innkeeper, "Borik? Splendid, I once had a favorite pony named Borik. Oh, could you help me carry this to the room?" She said as she handed him her bundle, "Of course!" Borik said as he hobbled up the stairs, with Katula following smoothly behind him.  
  
Kelevandros stared. He had never seen Katula act like that, it had to be a cover-up, but still! He quickly snapped out of his delirium and hurried to catch up to Katula's shadow flowing up the stairs. As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw Borik walking down the hallway, about to go back downstairs, "A lovely wife you have, sir, a right pretty flower for any man's garden." Kelevandros stammered out a muttered, "Thank you," and walked down the hallway to the room.  
  
Kelevandros opened the door to Katula; sitting on her bed and sharpening her spear as if nothing had happened. "What was that?" He asked before sitting on a separate bed opposite the room, Good thing there's two beds, he thought. "What was what?" Katula asked coolly. "You know what I mean! That... act you put on down there?" Katula just smiled, "That, my friend, is how you get the best room in the inn, for the price of the stable loft. An assassin must know these things to keep a low profile." Kelevandros began to smile, "A pony?" Katula turned grim, "I never said that, got me?" Kelevandros laughed, "Fine."  
  
Katula got up and stretched, "Now, if you are done with questions, I am off to get a hot meal." Kelevandros stood up, "I must escort you to the common room for food, my lady," As he said this, he opened the door to the hall and held out his hand, which Katula took on the brink of laughing. They walked down to the common room, and Katula was relieved to see more people in the room, and some of them already eyeing up the serving maids on the brink of drunkenness. It's about time, she thought. Borik saw them come down the stairs and yelled to the kitchen, "Two servings of the best ale and meat we have, for the happy couple!" Katula just smiled her whimsical smile and graciously accepted the food that looked like a mix between beef and some other meat Kelevandros couldn't name. He was just thankful the ale was the right color. Borik brought them the food himself, "It's on the house," He said, and Kelevandros was sure he saw him wink at Katula, although she seemed to not notice.  
  
After they had eaten their fill, Katula and Kelevandros walked up to the room the same way they had come down. They instantly blew out the lamp and laid down to rest. Both of them were very thankful for good mattresses, and neither of them was in the mood for idle chatter. They were both asleep as soon as their eyes shut, and they dreamed peacefully. 


	5. Night Aflame

The peace was quickly broken. Katula awoke to the piercing cries of the town's citizens. She watched as Kelevandros ran out the door, and quickly followed with her spear. She ran down the stairs to the common room, which was already aflame, and she spotted a corpse on the floor. She quickly turned it over and recognized the portly form of Borik. She felt a hot tear stream down her cheek before she could stop it, and ran out into the street.  
  
Katula wasn't ready for what she saw next. The whole town was aflame, and a Draconian hoard was rapidly seiging what little town was left, while tormenting the town's citizens. While she was still stunned, a Draconian came up to her, ready to attack, when the raging form of Kelevandros ran in and quickly disemboweled the creature with his sword. "Katula! What are you doing?! Snap out of it and fight!" Katula blinked a few times and then said, "Oh, right!" She then rapidly killed of several Draconians with her flailing spear.  
  
As Katula and Kelevandros kept defeating several more never-ending Draconians, she heard one of them, the leader she thought, yell out, "Kill the elf! Make sure you take the amazon alive!!!" Katula felt a rage burning within her, "NEVER!!!" Kelevandros must have heard it, too, for he was already in his dragon form, ripping the Draconians to shreds. Katula became a whirlwind, stabbing through several of her foes a second. Katula then found herself facing the leader. She knew it was him, for he bore a sword and wore a Draconian-style red cloak.  
  
He lunged first, and Katula made a counterattack of her own, swooping down to clip him behind his leg, and to quickly slice off her enemy's head. "That was easy... too easy." She felt a sharp pain on her shoulder, and she looked at her shoulder to see a poison dart protruding from it. She looked to her shooter, and recognized the true leader. "You will not take me! BERYL SHALL NOT HAVE ME!!!" That last cry took all of her soul, and while her enemies were still bewildered that she knew who sent them, they never saw the ice coming. Katula whirled her spear, sending shards of jagged ice everywhere, making sure to pierce every Draconian heart while still avoiding her dragon counterpart.  
  
After every foe was vanquished, Katula collapsed, succumbing to the poison. Kelevandros was at her side immediately, in his Elven form. Katula looked up at him; "Beryl will pay now." Kelevandros smiled, "You can't, that dart will have you out for awhile." Katula smiled back grimly; "We depart at dawn!" With that, she fell limp, as Kelevandros carried her out of that devastated town, into the forest beyond.  
  
~~*~~  
  
Kelevandros looked over at Katula's form, still trapped in her poisoned sleep. He had wanted to tell her something before she went out last night, but he had been too slow. When Katula had launched her massive ice attack on the Draconian army, her eyes had changed to a fierce blue. Kelevandros had remembered her saying her mother had sparkling blue eyes, and she had been a water mage. He would bet his life there was a connection, but he wasn't about to do that. Kelevandros looked over as Katula stirred and decided he wouldn't tell her, yet.  
  
Katula sat up wobbly, opened her eyes, examined where she was, and looked at Kelevandros with a question in her emerald green eyes. Kelevandros stood to help her up, "You were hit with a knock out dart, probably for when they planned to take you to Beryl." Katula took his hand he offered her and stood up. "Why would Beryl want me alive? You're the prince of drakes; I'm just an assassin! ...Right?" Kelevandros looked thoughtful for a moment, "Well, let's hope so." 


	6. The Arrival

Katula yawned and stretched. After the incident at the town, Kelevandros had suggested they make camp where they stood, and she had been too tired to argue. She looked back in the direction she thought the town was, and ran a hand through her hair, vainly trying to calm it down. So many people, she thought, and all of them dead, because of me. The thought had tortured her late into the night, and she was still weary from lack of sleep. She sighed and sat down next to the dead fire, trying to start a spark in the dewed wood.  
  
After Katula had triumphantly started a spark and the wood began to catch flame, Kelevandros stirred and stood up, stretching just as she had done earlier. Kelevandros looked in the direction he told her they would go, "We should reach her fortress by nightfall, are you rested?" Katula stifled a yawn and replied, "As rested as I will be." Kelevandros looked at her askance for a second and then fished some dried meat from his pack for their breakfast.  
  
After they had eaten, Kelevandros asked Katula if she would like to train today, which she refused. "If we train," she said, "I'll be more tired than I already am, and would you like to face Beryl with a fighter that's sleepwalking? I don't think so." Kelevandros had agreed, and they set out through the forest. Their journey was a quiet one, with only one stop at the middle of the day to rest and eat a little of they diminishing food supply.  
  
Night fell early, a little too early by Katula's reckoning, "Why is it almost night already? We couldn't have been traveling for that long." Kelevandros replied, "I forgot to tell you, but the area around Beryl's lair is tainted, as if by a curse, it stays darker than normal day around it. We must already be under the fortress's shadow." "Nonsense," Katula said, "Even if what you say is true, and we are in the lair's shadow, we should be able to see it by now." Kelevandros smirked, "Beryl's lair is supposedly carved from a mountain, although I have never seen a mountain so large in my days, so it's shadow reaches far." Katula looked over at Kelevandros; "You speak like you have been there before." He refused to look at her, "I have." His voice had a tone of finality in it, so Katula did not push the matter.  
  
Kelevandros was right, although they kept going; the fortress was never in sight. Katula thought they were going the wrong way until Kelevandros put a hand in front of her to stop her. "We're here," was all he said as he pointed through the trees to a monstrous clearing. Katula couldn't see anything at first, because night really had fallen and everything was dark, but as her eyes began to focus, she could make out a large shape outlined against the night sky. Large was an understatement, it did look like a mountain, only the largest she had ever seen, and it had a worked look to it. As she kept looking, she realized there were spires jutting out everywhere, some with the shine of windows in irregular places. A huge flat area that must've been the door stretched almost the length of the fortress, and was nearly as high. The door must be stone, for she would never have guessed it was one besides the fact it was smooth, because it fit in seamlessly with the rest of the wall. There was no way to open it that she could see, and her breath caught as she thought of trying to climb the smooth stone to reach one of the windows.  
  
Kelevandros noticed her apprehension, because he put a and on her shoulder and spoke softly, "Beryl never opens the door except for large-scale attacks or if she wants to leave, which she never does. We will get in through the windows." Katula shuddered, and Kelevandros smiled, "Don't worry, we don't have to climb it, we can fly up there, and then we'll break the window in." Katula visibly calmed down; she had been so awed by the sheer size of Beryl's fortress, that she had overlooked the obvious solution to her dilemma. "We won't attack tonight?" She asked, Kelevandros replied, "No, you need your sleep, I'm afraid to take my hand away because you might collapse. We will attack first thing tomorrow morning, so try to rest." He did then take his hand away, and Katula nearly staggered, she hadn't realized how tired she was. She was asleep nearly as soon as she lied down, leaving Kelevandros alone in his nightly vigil, planning their attack. 


	7. First Wave

When Katula awoke, she thought she hadn't slept at all, for it was still dark. When she remembered where she was and what she and Kelevandros were about to do, she quickly shot up and startled Kelevandros out of his delirium. "Are you ready?" he asked as if it were the most natural thing in the world to want to lay siege to a dragon overlord's fortress. Katula looked up at him, and thought he probably hadn't slept at all, "Yes, I am ready," she said as she stood up, hefted her spear, and hid her pack in a hollow tree nearby. She looked at her cloak for a minute, sighed, and stowed it in the tree with her and Kelevandros's belongings.  
  
When she turned around, Kelevandros was already in his dragon form, looking at her expectantly. You never realize how big dragons are, she thought, until you are expected to ride one without a saddle. She clambered onto his back, made sure her dagger and spear were attached firmly in place, grabbed the ridges in front of his wing sockets and nodded.  
  
Right when Kelevandros crouched, about to take off, a deafening roar was heard from deep within the bowels of the fortress. "Beryl?" Katula asked. Kelevandros nodded, and she bit her lip, She knows we're here, she thought. Before she could yell to him to hurry, Kelevandros had taken off and was soaring to a good-sized window decently high up the nearest spire. Katula almost fell off, she had never ridden a dragon or flown by choice, and she was as out of place as a fish in a tree.  
  
Just as Katula was getting used to flying, they stopped in front of the blackened wall of the fortress, right in front of a dark tinted window. Kelevandros reached out his arm and smashed through the window with his fist. Just as a hoard of draconians was flying up the staircase Katula could see through the window, Kelevandros let loose a powerful lightning attack, killing all the draconians and probably all the ones down the stairs as well.  
  
Katula, barely managing to keep balanced, walked across Kelevandros's neck and gently leapt from the bridge of his nose into the room, then reached out the window to take his claw. Within and instant, Kelevandros was back in his elf form, and she was pulling him up through the window. Katula looked around the dark room and crinkled her nose, I was hoping she would at least clean her lair, she thought as she saw several week-old corpses lying around the floor. She looked to Kelevandros, "You lead," she said. He nodded and ran down the stairs, with a very fleet-footed Katula following right behind him.  
  
It wasn't long before they had to stop and fight off another hoard of draconians. The corridors they were in were too small for Kelevandros's dragon form, so they had to fight the way Katula trained for. Spear flailing and sword swooping, the duo was able to defeat the group, by using the narrow hallway to their advantage. When the attack was done, they kept running, always with Kelevandros leading, because he seemed to know the way. Several more attacks were urged upon them, but each was dealt with as the first, and the two warriors made steady progress through the tunnels.  
  
Their journey seemed like it would last forever that way, with them running through seemingly endless corridors and fighting off legion after legion of draconians. It did go on that way, until the duo broke through into a huge corridor with doorways on all sides, this one huge enough for Kelevandros's dragon form and probably for Beryl as well. When they reached this corridor, they broke into a dead run to reach the end before they were ambushed from all sides, but it seemed their luck had ended. Before they had reached halfway through the area, draconians began streaming in through all the doors, including the ones they had come out of and the one they were aiming for.  
  
Kelevandros was instantly in his dragon form, shooting lightning everywhere, and succeeding in doing away with most of the draconians. As for Katula, she had figured out how to control her water powers, more or less, and formed several large icicles on the ceiling. When the draconians were under them, she let them fall with a huge crash, killing all those under them. The bloody ice was bad footing for the draconians, who proceeded to slip and slide all over the room, easy targets for Kelevandros's lightning and Katula's ice.  
  
The battle would have been won for the duo, if the draconians hadn't seemed so endless. They began to tire, and the lightning came less frequently, and the ice began less potent. Katula had already developed several acid burns from dead draconian splatter, and she began to have a splitting headache, she realized that using this much magic when she wasn't used to it was going to be a problem. Katula shook her head to focus her vision, and spotted a leader draconian, running along the ice with sure footing and carrying what looked to be and ivory collar. She knew this must be trouble, and tried to take him out, but her vision was blurring and her headache was worsening.  
  
"Kelevandros, left!" Katula cried, finally realizing what the collar was for. Kelevandros must have been tiring as well, for he didn't turn fast enough to stop the draconian. The draconian jumped into the air and flew straight the Kelevandros, snapping the collar on his neck right before Kelevandros closed his jaws on the menace, which was all he had time to do before the collar took effect.  
  
Kelevandros cried out a pained roar, clawing at the collar on his neck, while Katula could do nothing but watch. He cried out again, then flashed back to his human form and collapsed on the ground. Katula tried to reach him, but was cut off by draconians. Katula cut through the imposing creatures, using her remaining strength and ignoring the tears running down her cheeks. When she had almost reached him, the draconians split apart, revealing another leading draconian holding the limp form of Kelevandros with a curved sword up to his neck.  
  
The draconian began to talk to her in broken English, "Mistress Beryl does not require this one alive," he shook Kelevandros and smirked, "but she does wish to deal with you personally. If you come quietly, I will spare his life, but if you insist on cutting my troops, I will kill him. So, put down your spear, girl, if you want him to live." With that, he and the rest of the draconians laughed menacingly. Katula smirked, So, he's not dead then, she thought, and when they take me, I still have my wild card to get me out. She nearly laughed as she threw her spear at the draconian's feet, who smiled with wicked teeth as the rest of them swarmed in on her and sent her world into blackness. 


	8. Wild Card Revealed

"Ugh... my head..." Kelevandros rubbed his head wearily and looked around.  
  
He was in a dark cell, only illuminated by a single torch. His hand moved  
  
to his neck and he cringed. The collar was still there, a drake control  
  
collar to be specific. It prevented him from changing into his dragon form.  
  
He pulled futilely at the collar, as the memories of recent events swirled  
  
into his head. Where's Katula? He thought as he looked around the dungeon.  
  
They must have caught her as well.  
  
"Katula?" He called, "KATULA!?" He heard no response. Trying to calm down,  
  
he tried to sense her presence. An elf could always sense the presence of  
  
other elves nearby, and no matter what she said, Katula was obviously part  
  
elf. He could sense her, barely, somewhere in the fortress above him. The  
  
feeling was faint, and he assumed it was because she was only half elf.  
  
Kelevandros almost lost his concentration as he sensed another elf close by,  
  
a full elf. Who could that be? He wondered, surely not Kithal, he only  
  
works for Balkoth, but who? He strained his senses as he realized the other  
  
elf was moving rapidly toward Katula. He let go of the feelings, and hoped  
  
that the other elf was an ally, for he was sick of enemies appearing  
  
everywhere. He settled against the wall, missing his sword and bow, and  
  
waited to see what occurred.  
  
~~*~~  
  
Katula stood and leaned against the wall of her cell. She surveyed where  
  
she was, noticing the many torches lining the wall. All the walls were  
  
stones and hurriedly made, giving off the appearance of an almost natural  
  
room. The two draconian guards paced the floor regularly, often stopping to  
  
glare at their prize, who stared icily in return.  
  
Katula thought about where she was, and decided she was high up in the  
  
fortress. She had awoken a few times when draconians were dragging her to  
  
this cell, and she remembered many flights of stairs, but little else.  
  
Eventually she grew tired of standing and slid to the floor and put her head  
  
on her knees. She thought about her predicament, Kelevandros and she were  
  
separated, she was to be taken to Beryl eventually, and she wasn't sure if  
  
her plan would come through for her after all. She felt weak, defeated, and  
  
almost ready to give up.  
  
A plate of food was shoved under her barred door, which she looked at with  
  
distaste. A tinplate with a thin slice of moldy bread, and some  
  
green-tinted runny cheese, complete with a pitcher of dirty water. Katula's  
  
throat was parched, so she sipped the water, but quickly put it down. It  
  
smelled and tasted kind of musty, and she suspected it was drugged.  
  
Katula sighed and placed her head on he knees and looked at the floor. She  
  
totally calmed down and waited for her fate. After a little while she  
  
sensed something, almost like a presence. She was alarmed and then lost the  
  
feeling, and forced herself to calm down. When she could feel the...  
  
something... again, she could sense two different points. One was rapidly  
  
drawing near, and the other was down below her somewhere. She tried to  
  
figure out what was going on, and remembered elves could sense other elves  
  
when they were near. Well, she thought, Kelevandros was right, I am part  
  
elf, and I need to come to grips with it whether I want to or not.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when a door down the hall burst open, and a  
  
figure walked in, a woman wielding a sword and wearing a gray cloak. Katula  
  
stood and looked at the woman calmly. About time you got here, she thought.  
  
The two Draconians were stunned momentarily, but soon recovered and ran  
  
towards the woman. Katula saw the warrior smirk as she crouched and jabbed  
  
her sword up into the torso of the leading Draconian. She pulled out a  
  
knife with the other hand and stabbed the second Draconian hard in the side  
  
with it, killing it instantly. She removed her weapons quickly and jumped  
  
back as two large puddles of acid appeared where the Draconians had been  
  
standing.  
  
Two more Draconians from down the hall heard the racket and walked down the  
  
hall. When they spotted the woman and the acid, they ran at her bearing  
  
teeth and claws. The woman sheathed her sword and knife, and then pulled  
  
out her bow. She pulled out and arrow and aimed, then released it quickly,  
  
shooting another arrow right after it. The Draconians stopped in front of  
  
Katula's cell with arrows protruding from their foreheads. Katula watched  
  
as they turned to acid, and was disappointed when they acid refused to eat  
  
through the bars on her cell.  
  
Well, Katula thought, my wild card came through after all. She watched as  
  
the woman started to walk towards her, but stopped and went into a nearby  
  
room. Katula was confused until the woman reappeared carrying Katula's  
  
spear and dagger. She stopped in front of Katula's cell and removed the  
  
hood of her cloak, revealing her elfish features, brown hair, and sea gray  
  
eyes.  
  
"Well Laurei," Katula said, "Way to make an entrance." Laurei smirked and  
  
handed the weapons to Katula. Laurei looked at Katula a moment then asked,  
  
"Why did you leave me behind?"  
  
Katula rolled her eyes, "First of all, I didn't leave you behind on purpose.  
  
You left to go see if your village was doing well, and Kelevandros and I  
  
left while you were gone. I didn't know you would come back, and even if  
  
you had been there, it was necessary to leave you behind."  
  
Laurei glared, "Why? If I had come with you, I could have helped you."  
  
Katula laughed, "You must think an awful lot of yourself. Do you really  
  
think that if you had been here, that you wouldn't have been thrown in a  
  
dungeon like Kelevandros and me? No offense, but I highly doubt it."  
  
Laurei's eyes narrowed, "I wouldn't speak so boldly, girl, especially since  
  
you are still stuck in your cell."  
  
Katula raised her eyebrow in a quizzical way, "Oh, still stuck am I? You're  
  
pretty ignorant for an elf." Katula ignored Laurei's responding remarks as  
  
she whispered words to her spear, causing it to glow a light blue. She held  
  
the spear point close to an iron bar, then slowly drew the point down it.  
  
As she did so, the bar began to freeze. She did the same to a bar next to  
  
the first one, then leaned back to study her handiwork. After finding a  
  
weak point, and telling Laurei to step back, she kicked the weak point as  
  
hard as she could. The bars shattered, leaving iron and ice chips all over  
  
the floor, while Katula was very pleased with herself.  
  
As she stepped out of her cell, Katula smiled and looked at Laurei's  
  
expressionless face. "Impressive," Laurei muttered, "Now that you're free,  
  
let's go get Kelevandros." Katula nodded and they both walked down the  
  
hallway and out the door Laurei came through. They were faced with two  
  
staircases, one leading up, and the other leading down to the dungeons  
  
below. Katula looked at the upwards staircase, Beryl's up there, she  
  
thought, and I will go meet her, my revenge for Vijayendra is at hand. "You  
  
go save Kelevandros," Katula said, "He's in the lower dungeons."  
  
"Where are you going?" Laurei asked. She tried not to wince as Katula let  
  
out a cold laugh. Katula said, "Beryl's final hour is near, and she will  
  
fall at my hands."  
  
Laurei grabbed Katula's arm; "You're not going by yourself. It's suicide!"  
  
Katula laughed coldly again, "It is, isn't it?" She walked a little closer  
  
to the stairs before Laurei stopped her and said, "Why do you run knowingly  
  
to your death?" Her voice hushed, "Do you seek it?"  
  
Katula turned and shook Laurei's hand loose, "I refuse to run from it," her  
  
voice was stone, "Go save Kelevandros."  
  
Laurei took a few steps toward her; "I won't let you go alone."  
  
Katula grew angry, "Laurei, GO!" with that, she went up the stairs a bit,  
  
then turned around. A huge wall of ice formed between her and Laurei.  
  
Laurei watched as Katula's blurred form paused a moment, then ran up the  
  
stairs. She surveyed the wall, and decided it was too thick to break.  
  
"Courageous fool, just like her mother," she said to herself as she ran down  
  
the stairs.  
  
~~*~~  
  
Kelevandros awoke and sat up on the cold floor as he heard the guttural  
  
noises of Draconians being killed. He squinted as a door down the hall  
  
opened and light came in through the opening. Someone ran down the hall and  
  
quickly handed him his sword and bow through the iron bars and began to  
  
fumble with the lock. His eyes began to adjust, "Laurei? How did you-  
  
wait, where's Katula?"  
  
The door swung open as Laurei entered, "Your friend's done something  
  
drastic, hold still and let me work at your collar." Kelevandros stood,  
  
nearly knocking Laurei over, "What?! Katula went to face Beryl alone?! Why  
  
didn't you follow her?" Laurei went to work on the collar with a strange  
  
ivory-colored key, "Believe me, I tried. She's as stubborn as a dragon with  
  
a toothache, with a foul temper to match."  
  
As the collar fell from Kelevandros's neck, he heaved a sigh of relief.  
  
After the momentary pause, he sheathed his sword and swung his bow and  
  
quiver behind his back, "Quickly now, we must help her." Laurei nodded and  
  
ran after Kelevandros, who was already out of the hallway and flying up the  
  
stairs. 


End file.
